Leave it Reggie to say what everyone I was already thinking months ago.
Today, GameDaily quotes Reggie Fils-Aime, the current godfather of all things Nintendo in the ever important American market, and he spewed a mouthful once again. Basically, Reggie told BMO Capital Markets today that, “The challenge that our competitors have is significant. They’ve gone down the path with building expensive machines that they lose money on. They’ve gone down the path with games that are hard to develop. They’ve put themselves in a box. I don’t know how they’re going to get out of it.”
GameDaily says it’s hard to argue with that sentiment today, given Nintendo’s insane profits compared to those other two, and I, obviously, agree. But I’m finding that my opinion is becoming less “fanman bias” every day and more what we in the biz call “fact.” Game drought? Anyone with Google can tell you it never really happened as badly as the Intertubes would have you believe. Basically, it’s only been the most passionate of gamers who have felt its effects as far as the Wii’s software library is concerned. Still disagree? I’d argue now that you probably slept through 2007. Zak and Wiki? Trauma Center? Rabbids? Madden 2007? Resident Evil? All third party, all decent, and we haven’t even hit the Nintendo titles yet.
Now, is Reggie arrogant? Obviously yes, he is. But as the head of Nintendo USA that’s his job. He’s the hired muscle, and now he’s armed with an immense amount of market research and facts. And money. He is Donkey Kong personified, with a killer system and a dominant handheld to boot. And he’s going to let you know it.